Vogue Philippines stars 106-year-old tattoo artist on the cover, Oldest ever on the magazine

Manila: In its April 2023 issue, Vogue Philippines has starred a 106-year-old tattoo artist Apo Whang-Od aka Maria Oggay. She is the oldest person to be on the cover of Vogue.

Wang-Od was seen with muted silver hair, soft eyes, and weathered hands. She is also the oldest and maybe the last traditional Kalinga tattoo artist. She also only communicates in the Ilocano language and does not speak Tagalog or English.

The artist lives in the mountainous village of Buscalan in the Philippines' Kalinga province. She started learning the indigenous tradition of hand-tapping tattoos as a teenager. Earlier, the art form was reserved for warriors from the Butbut tribe. They had to earn tattoos and they held high cultural significance.

However, now the elderly woman's tattoos are mostly revered by international visitors who take the long trip to Kaling for the popular geometric designs.

She does not think that the tradition of tattoos will end because she is training the next tattoo masters. Grandnieces Elyang Wigan and Grace Palicas have been learning how to create tattoos using bamboo sticks, thorns of pomelo trees, water, and coal. According to Kaling tradition, the art can only be passed down to blood relatives.

Whang-Od learnt the craft from her father who was a master tattooist in the region. Before her, traditionally, only men with special ancestry were allowed to learn the art. She was an exception because of her talent and potential. The prodigy, however, chose to carve a whole new path and chose only women as her apprentices. She also broke the patrimonial tradition for the first time in recorded Kalinga history.